Dundee

Dundee lies on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, where the estuary opens toward the North Sea. The historic burgh occupies lowland beneath the Sidlaw Hills, its built form following a ridge that rises from Balgay Hill through Dundee Law to Gallow Hill. Streams, including the Dighty Water and several burns, mark and cut across the surrounding land. Fertile brown soils west and east of the town support arable farming, while the Tay provides the sheltered east-coast anchorage that supported overseas trade.

William the Lion granted Dundee to his brother David in the late twelfth century, and David's promotion helped turn the settlement into a trading centre. It became a royal burgh when John Balliol was crowned in 1292. English occupation during the First War of Independence cost the town its early charters, though Robert the Bruce recaptured it in 1312 and renewed them in 1327. Later wars brought heavy destruction: English forces burned Dundee during the Rough Wooing in 1548, and George Monck's Parliamentarian army wrecked it in 1651.

The burgh's trade included exports of raw wool and later finished cloth. Linen manufacture became increasingly important, while the harbour linked the town with overseas markets. By the early nineteenth century, whaling and the processing of imported jute were adding new activity to the waterfront and its textile industry.